By The Way
by Misty121416
Summary: Mark and Chris are the best of friends; they literally did everything together. But what happens when Mark finally finds out that his "brother from another mother" is actually a girl? Read on to find out… MarkxOC, Rated T for mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Mark and Chris are the best of friends; they literally did everything together. But what happens when Mark finally finds out that his "brother from another mother" is actually a girl?**

**Disclaimer: I think it's quite obvious I don't own Harvest Moon.**

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Chris is just your average seventeen-year-old. Chocolate-brown hair, a deep turquoise colour for eyes, and the best of friends with the local emerald-eyed, golden-haired farmer that everyone knows and loves. Of course, said farmer was a tad more oblivious to a small fact about his best friend, something everyone else on the island had figured out long before.

Chris was a girl.

"Christie" was her real name in all reality, but she had gone by "Chris" for practically her whole life... Of course, it wasn't surprising she was often considered a boy, with her incredibly short hair, styled the same as many guys, her voice that could be considered generic for both genders, along with the baggy and loose clothing she always preferred wearing, and the fact her hobbies had always including video games, comic books, etcetera.

"Man Chris," Mark sighed as he slumped back on the couch, throwing his controller to the side. "When the hell did you get so good at this game?" he questioned, referring to the game they had just finished playing, after a good two hours. Chris just laughed as she leaned back on the lower part of the couch, considering she had been sitting on the floor the whole while.

"Hey, I get bored when I'm not cooking, and video games tends to fix that," she replied, stretching her arms high above her head, looking over at the farmer, who remained ever so oblivious to her real gender. Honestly, sometimes she just wanted to get it over with and tell him that his "brother from another mother" was indeed of the female variety. Of course, there was always the fact it was just that much fun thinking about how after the two years Chris had spent on the island, Mark had yet to realize the not-so-secret secret of Christie Jordan Tetsuya. Really, every other person who had been on the island had figured out upon meeting, or after getting to know her a little. Oh well, his obliviousness is just what made him Mark. "Plus, it's always fun getting good enough to beat you, considering when you lose, you always get so depressed. And don't deny it; we both know it's true," she finished with a grin.

"… Oh, shut up," he replied, attempting to look angry with his friend, but ending up failing horribly and laughing. Chris just smiled and shook her head slightly, using her arms to lift herself onto the couch. "So, now what should we do? Go harass Will? Embarrass Lanna and Denny? Maybe shake things up with Gannon?" Mark questioned, stretching his legs across the couch, barely leaving enough room for Chris to sit. He sat a moment as if in thought before he shook his head, "Okay, not the last one. He's scary as hell when he's mad."

The brunette just laughed, pushing Mark's feet off her end of the couch, laying them across and using the farmer's leg as a foot rest. "I agree. Honestly, I remember one time when Charlie said something to Eliza that made her cry, and I swear Gannon got his axe and almost chopped off Charlie's head. Poor kid," she grinned, lacing her fingers behind her head. "And I would say yes to the first two, but I think my legs fell asleep. I'll probably trip over air if I try walking right now." Mark's emerald orbs seems to gleam as he stood, grinning. Chris stared as him in slight confusion before her eyes widened. "Marcus Samuel Reed, don't you _dare_," she warned.

Of course, Mark didn't care, even though he knew Chris was serious; the cook would never use his real name, much less his full name if she wasn't. The boy scooped the brunette into his arms, throwing her over his shoulder, laughing as she struggled to get out of his iron grasp. Huh, you really did get stronger by farming. Go figure. "Man, you're pretty light Chris!" he exclaimed as said person continued struggling, but once she finally figured out her efforts were useless, she sighed, and finally stopped, and just became limp, hanging over the farmer's shoulder. "Really, are you sure you aren't a girl?" Chris was about to respond saying "Maybe I am", but was cut off by Mark laughing again, patting her ass before finally setting her down.

"Mark," she started, using all her energy into not blushing, "That's like asking if you're gay. And honestly, I'm starting to wonder if that's your new sexual preference," she stated, raising an eye brow and she crossed her arms. Ah, the eye brow raise; such a feat that Chris had learned long ago, and was quite proud of it. Really, she, Mark and a few select others were the only Sunshine Islanders that could actually do the small trick successfully. Seeing Mark's taken aback look, Chris just laughed and patted his back, shaking her head. "I'm kidding. The way you're always talking about Chelsea and the other girls proves that you're too much of a skirt-chaser to be into guys."

"Hm, sounds like you're a little depressed about that Chris," Mary replied with a grin, putting the brunette into a headlock and giving her a noogie. "Really, I can see you falling all over me. We would probably be the couple of the season if we ever hooked up too," he laughed with a wink. "I hear the girls go crazy for a guy and guy relationship."

"Oh, and that would totally help with your chances with any of the girls on the island," Chris replied with a laugh. The girl pushed against the farmer's arm until she finally was able to slip her head out, only to trip over her own feat and begin falling backwards. Mark, with a small grin hooked his arm around Chris' waist, grinning from ear to ear.

"It could," he replied, holding the brunette until she regained her footing. "And look at you Chris! You're just falling for me!" Chris just rolled her eyes, standing and stepping out of Mark's grasp. "Actually, add a little make up and some girl clothes, you might be able to pass for one. You're thin and have a tiny next and wrists like one, plus you have pretty big eyes."

See, Mark realized all these things. He realized them, yet he _still_ couldn't piece together that there_ was_ indeed a reason for all these characteristics. Along with the fact that Chris hadn't gone swimming with Mark once through the two years they knew each other, and she always worse baggy shirts and sweats or long shorts when she slept over a Mark's. You would think he would finally figure out it was a little strange, but nope, he didn't think anything wrong in the least. "Are you trying to say you want to see me wearing makeup, girly clothes and what not?"

"Maybe, maybe not," he replied, an innocent tone to his voice, that was obviously done intentionally. Chris just gave him a dull look that basically said "Please tell me you're kidding". Mark noticed the look and returned it with one as blank as her own, but after about two, maybe three seconds of looking at each other like that, the two just burst out in a fit of laughter. "But I must admit, it would be pretty funny seeing you in a skirt. It would make wonderful blackmail!"

Chris stayed silent a moment, before a small grin crept onto her lips as she crossed her arms, her eyes holding a glint of what seemed to be a tad mischievous. "You want to see me dressed like a girl huh?" she asked, the blonde nodding in return, slightly hesitant. "Okay then, but you have to too then. No taking it back," she said, grinning as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him off his property.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; you're kidding right?" he asked, giving Chris a "look". When she looked over her shoulder and just gave him a small smirk, the boy went actually went a little pale as he swallowed. "Oh c'mon Chris, you can't be serious! We'll never get girlfriends if we do this! Not to mention if anyone else sees, we'll both be scarred for life!"

"Hey, it was your idea. And really, since you want to see me in a skirt so bad, it's only fair for you to get dressed as a girl too!" Oh. Chris was having fun with this. She was having a_** lot**_ of fun with this. After all, Mark was considered one of the hottest guys on the island, according to all the girls, and Chris had to admit; he was pretty good looking. But seeing him in a dress would do the following to him; it would cause his pride and image to shatter, people would be laughing about it for years to come, Chris would use it as blackmail, and some of the guys on the island might try and hit on him if he looked girly enough. Rest assured, the next little while was positively going to be amusing for Chris and the other girls. "Natalie!" she called, bursting into her pink haired friend's home. Thankfully, Taro and Felicia were out, and Elliot was out front, assumingly just about to leave for a walk. Natalie came jogging into the main room, confusion written all over her face when she saw Chris holding onto Mark's wrist. Before Natalie could complain about Chris almost breaking her door off its hinges, the brunette grinned, placing her free hand on Mark's shoulder. "What girl on the island has a dress or skirt that would fit him?"

And with that, the game of dress up was on.

It took Natalie about half an hour to gather Julia, Lanna, Sabrina and Lily for their little game, and it took another hour and a half for them to pick outfits for Chris and Mark, part of which was just convincing –well, forcing- the farmer into his get up. By the end, Chris stood there uncomfortably, wearing a white mini skirt with black leggings that went to her knees, along with a black t-shirt and a gray, baggy, sleeveless hoodie. The poor girl sighed, having had to bind her chest while she was changing, just so Mark wouldn't be able to see her breasts. Sure she wanted him to figure it out, but it wasn't as fun if this was how he found out. She padded barefoot out of the bathroom where she had gotten changed, only to stop short and clamp her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing when she saw Mark.

He stood there, blushing like mad, hands clenched into two very tight fists. The poor boy had been dressed up in a pale blue dress, a ribbon tied under where the breasts on a woman would be, and the bottom billowed out, stopping at his knees. A ribbon criss-crossed around the top, turning the strapless dress into a halter, and the ribbon was tied into a bow that matched the large one they somehow managed to get into his hair. "Chris," he started, looking up at his friend with a sharp glare. "I swear to the Harvest Goddess, I'm gonna kill you for this."

**A/n:**** Before you say anything, no, I'm not giving up on Yuko's Little Secret xD I'm actually going to write more of chapter five as soon as I get this chapter up on here. So, expect that in a few days ;3**

**But yeah, "By The Way". I totally stole the title from the actual song by Theory of a Deadman, which is what I was listening to when I was thinking of a title, and then I was like "Eh, this'll work". Anyways, that's not the point. I actually have been thinking about writing this for about a week now; I don't even know how I got the idea, but I could care less xD I'm kinda liking how this is turning out so far, and I hope you do too. Let me warn you now; I highly doubt this will be a very long fic. It**_** could**_** be, but I doubt it. Just expect some more actions from Mark that he would never do if he knew Chris was actually a girl. And I assure, it'll be funny when he realizes she's a girl, just because he'll look back on all the things he did to Chris, thinking she was a dudexD**

**But yeah, I apologize for the shortness. I was originally going to add some more to reach my five-page minimum, but I didn't want to ruin this. If you have any suggestions for embarrassing scenes with Mark and Chris, don't hesitate to suggest them to me! Seriously, it's a high chance I'll use whatever you guys throw at me XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: Mark and Chris are the best of friends; they literally did everything together. But what happens when Mark finally finds out that his "brother from another mother" is actually a girl?**

**Disclaimer: I think it's quite obvious I don't own Harvest Moon.**

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Chris walked into Mark's house the same as she did every day, at exactly one in the afternoon. Really, she had gone over so many times, she now could arrive there on the second when she wanted. She kicked off her black board shoes, walking into the kitchen and serving herself a drink, hearing someone's footsteps behind her. Turning with a glass of milk in her hands, the girl snickered as Mark walked into the room; the image of him in that dress seemed to pop out every time she looked at him now. "Hey," she said, grinning. She tried to keep her composer while she drank the white liquid in her cup, but had to set it down after to first sip so she could burst out in laughter.

"Oh shut up," he muttered, a small blush brushing his cheeks as the dreaded memory from the day before came. "And dude, you so owe me for that. When I walked into town this morning for my rounds, Natalie and Julia were outside talking and just burst out laughing when they saw me…" The farmer sighed in slight annoyance, picking up the cup Chris had set down, taking a sip of the milk. "Really, wearing a dress does not help your chances with the ladies. At all."

The brunette just coughed, patting her chest slightly as she chocked on the milk that had gone down the wrong tube in her fit of laughter. Once she finally regained her composure, she looked up at Mark, who was just glaring at her. The girl swallowed another fit of chuckles as she patted him on the back, her voice shaky when she spoke from attempting to hold the laughter inside. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone. If worse comes to worse, you could start dating one of the guys. They'll totally think you're a girl if you put on... The dress… Again." And there she went again, her eyes watering from the laughter as she had to hold onto the counter to keep from falling to her knees. Glancing up, she snickered a moment longer before taking a few deep, deep breathes. "Sorry, I had to."

"You know Chris," Mark started, a small smirk on his lips as he wiggled his fingers. "You definitely could have passed as a girl yesterday wearing that skirt," he smirked before putting his hands on her chest, making Chris freeze and keep herself from screaming. "Maybe if we put you in a bra and stuff it, then put you into a dress, we can say your name is Christie, and you could pose as a girl," he suggested with a laugh. Honestly, it was pathetic how oblivious he was.

Just as Chris was about to say something along the lines of "There's a reason for that", the door swung open, Natalie standing there, her legs spread wide, her hands on either side of the door frame with a large grin plastered on her face. "Mark!" she said, walking in without a word from either the blonde or brunette, as they were still slightly shocked at the sudden outburst. The pink haired girl walked over to the blonde, grabbing his wrists and starting to drag him out of the house, the grin deciding not to waver from her features. Both Mark and Chris, who was following the pair, were quite curious as to what Natalie was up to this time, and they found out soon enough.

"You're kidding me, right?" questioned the farmer, a dull expression on his face as he stood in the middle of Natalie's room, his arms crossed over his chest. "You honestly think I would learn ballet, much less wear a leotard?" he asked, eyebrow raised slightly. "What gave you _that_ impression? There is _no_ way in hell that I would _ever_ do that."

The pink haired girl seemed to only be half listening as she tied her very short hair back into a ponytail. "Not just me, Mark. Julia and Chelsea too," she explained with a grin, looking over her shoulder. "Oh? But Mark, you're the strongest guy on the island; we can't just trust anyone to hold us up for lifts. Plus, don't you want to be around girls all the time? Most guys dream of it every day, right?" Mark still didn't look totally into the whole idea, but his face showed he was starting to give in. Natalie just needed one or two more good reasons for him to do it, and he would snap. Those ideas, she most definitely had. "Did I mention we would be paying you two thousand coins, and you don't have to actually wear the leotard?"

"I'll do it!" Mark exclaimed, a smile bursting through his mask. Really, she should have said both those things to start with!

The pink haired girl just smirked, as she grabbed his hand and shook it. "Looks like we have a deal then. And there's no backing out of this one, Marky dearest." The blonde looked at her in a strange manner, but brushed off her words; hey he was going to get paid for being around girls and picking them up all day! _And he didn't have to wear those stupid leotards the ballet guys on television always had!_

No. Instead, he had to wear a pink tutu.

Yes, you read right, a tutu. A pink and sparkly one. See, Natalie was indeed telling the truth; Mark didn't need to wear a leotard like most male ballet dancers did, because they didn't have any lying around. Though, somehow, the girls managed to get their hands on a large tutu that Mark was now stuck wearing. And to make matters worse? Chris was on the sidelines, with a video camera no less.

The blonde just stood there, clenching and unclenching his fists, jaw set with his eyes shut, obviously annoyed. And probably wanting to punch something; no, scratch that, he obviously wanted to punch something. "Natalie, do you just enjoy seeing me cross dress or something? There are plenty of other guys on the island you could have chosen for this…" he said, teeth gritted as he spoke, his arms now crossed.

"I was being truthful when I said that we needed you since you were the strongest guy on the island; who else could we trust to hold us up?" she asked, acting offended; of course, that didn't last long, considering Natalie had finally broken into a smirk. "Plus, it's funny seeing a guy like you cross-dress. And who else would actually wear a tutu, even for money?"

"…Touché," he muttered with an annoyed sigh as he hung his head in defeat. "But you couldn't have just let me wear shorts and a t-shirt or something?" he asked, a glimpse of hope sparkling in his bright eyes, only to be shattered when the pink haired girl shook her head, a large smile spread across her face.

The next few hours consisted of Mark refusing the girls to help until he got changed out of the pink, sparkling dress Natalie had stuck him in (It last about forty-five minutes before the girls finally gave in and let him change), Mark complaining about how humiliated he was, Chris harassing him as she video taped the ballet lessons, and Mark whapping her upside the head hard enough to make her shut up. The girls had finally decided that they had had enough practice for the day, and refused to let Mark go home until he promised to come back the next day to help them.

Now, Mark was finally back in the safety of his home, the front door locked as Chris snickered, watching the clips of Mark she had filmed. "Goddess Mark, you suck at dancing," she laughed, watching a scene where he attempted a pirouette, and face-planted after he tripped over his own two feet. Mark, though appalled by the videos, and thoroughly embarrassed, couldn't help but laugh at the failed attempt of the spin.

"Like you could do better Chris," he scoffed, rolling his eyes before standing from the couch and walking into his kitchen to grab something to eat. After about ten minutes, the farmer got curious as to why the living room was so silent, and why his brunette friend hadn't followed him; usually when food was involved, the chef was at Mark's heels, just to make sure he didn't screw up. The blonde walked to the corner of the living room, poking his head in to see what Chris was doing. Smirking, the boy rolled his eyes as he saw her curled up on her side on the couch, eyes closed as she slept soundly. "Maybe I should go draw on his face or something," he smirked, walking over to the girl.

Mark grabbed a marker from the small table next to the couch and popped the cap. He kneeled down and started moving the colouring utensil to Chris' face when he stopped in the middle of the motion and stared. Usually, Chris was energetic, annoying as hell and just an average guy in Mark's mind, but sleeping… Sleeping, she looked at peace, and even more girlish than she was normally.

The blonde swept a strand of loose hair from her face, not thinking of his actions at all as he subconsciously moved closer to her. The boy's lips hovered over an inch over her mouth once realization kicked in, and he stumbled backwards away from Chris, blushing wildly with his hand over his mouth. He stood and scurried into the kitchen quickly, face warm and red, his hand still over his lips. _'What the hell was I doing? Chris is a_ guy _for Goddess sake! He just looked so… So at peace… It must just be my male hormones kicking in, since Chris looks girly, and I don't have a girlfriend… Yeah, that's it…"_ Mark sighed, convincing himself that was the reason he was about to do the most embarrassing thing in his life. No way would Mark ever think of Chris that way; he was one hundred percent straight, after all! Sure, he thought Chris was cute, but she looked so much more feminine than the other guys on the island! No way would Mark ever fall for his best friends, not in a million years.

… Right?

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**A/n:**** First of all, I wanna give a shout out to Rabid Cream Puffs, ChaosZX, XxXAsianAsaXxX and Crazy Cinnamon Goodness for reviewing, adding BTW to their favourites and/or adding it to their Story Alerts! It really means a lot ;D**

**Second, OH MAI GAWD! I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated O.o But I actually have (somewhat) of an excuse for that. For one, I'm sure a few of you know about my other fic, Yuko's Little Secret; well, what I'm doing to keep both stories alive is type up on chapter on one story, then a chapter on the next, and it took me a bit to get a good idea for the latest chapter of YLS. Second, my birthday was last Sunday (WOO, FINALLY FOURTEEN!), so I was busy most of last weekend, and school started Wednesday, which has kept me VERY occupied (unfortunately). Plus, we're still trying to sell our house (IT BETTER SELL SOON! I WANT MY LAPTOP! xD). Luckily, it's a long weekend, so I was finally able to finish typing this up, and now I can start the next chap of YLS, which means a faster update for BTW.**

**ANYWHO. I'm not all that pleased with this chapter actually, but writer's block (and drawer's block at that) has been haunting me lately, so I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Also, like I said in the first chapter, if you have ANY suggestions for this story, SEND THEM TO ME! I'll probably use them, as long as I can think of a good reason for it to happen :3 **

**Hm. Can't think of much else. So, I'll see you all next chapter! Baii!**


	3. Author's Note

**A/n:**** Oh. My. God. I am SO sorry you guys! So many things have happened recently that I haven't been able to update at all (seriously, it's been two months, and I'm dying not writing for you)! For one, about two months ago when I had finished By The Way: Chapter Two, and was about to start on Yuko's Little Secret, my computer just randomly crashed. Literally, I was just on Facebook talking to friends, and the computer just froze up, and stopped working. I thought everything was fine, so I manually turned it off, tried turning it back on, and it started making this really loud whirring sound, and hasn't worked since. But after that, we got a temporary laptop to use, and I didn't write anything for YLS or BTW just because I wouldn't have the file afterward. Anyways, had the temporary one for about two weeks, and FINALLY got my laptop! But I wasn't able to use_ that_ because of two reasons; first of all, I didn't have Microsoft Office, and second, I got it the day before we started moving. So then I wasn't really able to do much with my laptop during the three, four days it took to drive to where we're currently living. Everything was fine and dandy, the laptop was perfectly fine. The morning after we finally got to my grandma's, the laptop's backlight burst. Every since then, we've been waiting for Sony to fix it. I had that laptop for six days. They've had it for a month. I'm not too impressed.**

**But yeah. I just wrote this out to tell you guys I haven't died (yet) and I'm still planning on continuing my story once everything is straightened out, and I have my laptop back! So I hope you guys can wait a LITTLE longer, and I hope to update soon! My laptop should be back soon (hopefully), and if anything, we'll be getting a temporary laptop while we wait, so I'll be able to write then. Until next time!  
**


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